SWIMMING: Sholl put in charge of Marlins

Water Works opens on the road Thursday

Water Works Marlins head coach Spencer Scholl, far right, and assistant coach Natalie Edwards give instructions to some members of the team at a Tuesday practice session.

Water Works Marlins head coach Spencer Scholl, far right, and assistant coach Natalie Edwards give instructions to some members of the team at a Tuesday practice session.

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Water Works Marlins head coach Spencer Scholl, far right, and assistant coach Natalie Edwards give instructions to some members of the team at a Tuesday practice session.

Water Works Marlins head coach Spencer Scholl, far right, and assistant coach Natalie Edwards give instructions to some members of the team at a Tuesday practice session.

SWIMMING: Sholl put in charge of Marlins

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EDWARDSVILLE — Under new head coach Spencer Sholl, the Water Works swim team hopes to build on the success it had last season.

Sholl swam for the Marlins for nine seasons, including last year, when he was an assistant coach under former head coach Elizabeth McPherson.

McPherson, who was also a longtime Marlins swimmer, was head coach for two years.

Sholl inherits a team that placed second at last year’s SWISA Championships while getting closer to perennial champion Summers Port of Godfrey.

Water Works scored a combined 1,1819 points while Summers Port won its 23rd consecutive title with 1,967.5 points.

In 2016, the Marlins finished third in the conference meet, 675 points behind Summers Port.

Water Works will get its biggest test of the regular season right away, opening with a dual meet at Summers Port at 6 p.m. tonight.

“Last year’s finish at the SWISA meet was really encouraging,” Sholl said. “It may be a little harder at the start of this year because we lost some of our older swimmers, like me and Bailey Grinter. We don’t have a lot of older kids and we’re lacking some of the power that Summers Port has in that area.”

A 2017 graduate of Edwardsville High School, Sholl recently finished his freshman year at Southern Illinois Carbondale.

Sholl missed his junior season with the EHS boys’ swim team after surgery on both shoulders. He returned for his senior year and was one of the Tigers’ best swimmers.

Sholl was also an assistant coach for the Edwardsville YMCA Breakers and the Saluki Swim Club in Carbondale.

“Missing my junior year at EHS was a bad thing, but it got me into coaching and I found that I liked it a lot,” Sholl said. “I’m kind of sad that I’m not swimming in college, but coaching keeps me involved to some extent.”

Increasing numbers have played a big role in the Marlins’ ascent. Last year the team had about 90 swimmers, but the number has bumped up to 101 this year.

“We’re still having people come in and sign up, which is awesome,” Sholl said. “In comparison to most other years, I felt like we were really moving along for the first couple weeks of practice.

“We’ve already made a lot of progress. I can’t wait to see what we look like at the end of the season.”

While the Marlins look solid in just about every age division, Sholl will be counting on a group of swimmers that led the way in last year’s conference meet.

Last year, Ramirez and teammate Savannah Grinter tied for second in the high-point in girls’ 13-14 at the conference meet. Ramirez and the Grinter triplets (Savannah, Autumn and Isabella) all had strong freshman seasons for EHS.

In girls’ 9-10, Karis Chen from Water Works was second in the high-point standings while Ramirez was third.

Ava Whitaker returns for the Marlins after being a high-point winner in girls’ 11-12.

The Water Works girls were especially strong last season, outscoring Summers Post 1,144-923.5 at the SWISA Championships.

“I think our girls can definitely do that again,” Sholl said. “We don’t have quite the same depth with the boys, but we have some younger swimmers who can help us.”

On the boys’ side, the top returning swimmers include Cohen Osborn, who took first in the 11-12 age group.

Trent Sholl, Spencer’s younger brother, moves up to the 15-18 age group after being one of the top performers in the 13-14 division.

Mathiew Doyle (15-18) and Canon Adams (15-18) are also among the top boys’ swimmers.

The assistant coaches for Water Works are Natalie Edwards and Ethan Schacht.

Water Works returns to action by hosting Splash City at 6 p.m. Thursday. Other dual meets are July 12 at home against Paddlers and July 17 at home against Sunset Hills.

The conference relay meet is June 25 at Sunset Hills.

The SWISA Championships are slated for July 22 at Summers Port.

“I want us to have as good a season as last year if not better,” Sholl said. “With more numbers, I think we can keep moving up.

“I want us to continue to creep closer and closer to Summers Port. The ultimate goal with every swimmer is that I just want them to love what they’re doing and get better as they go along.”